@Aura: Paris does not join you when you talk to him in Bergstadt (if you get B). He mentions something about having seen my fighting and not trusting his life to me. So I replayed that $#%@&*# battle just to get him. So I guess it has to be the A rank thing.

I had a feeling the Griever's recruitment had something to do with the cats (now I know its the same cat) that you can find in some villages because a lady in Blackwater mentions that she seems lonely & is only smiling when she's feeding stray cats. I never thought that the cat himself would be the one I would recruit!

75 optional characters? You recruited them all? Or maybe it's 75 playable characters, mandatory and optional both?

(Hehehe... always trust in the unexpected, esp if they crop up repeatedly)

It's mentioned in the first post that you could recruit 75 characters for your army. There is a reward for obtaining all characters, but it will be obvious what it's going to be (the chest), and you're not required to get it before any specific point in the game (until you recruit all 75).

I haven't recruited all yet, heck not even 10, but I intend to do so since I really want to open that chest (wonder what it contains) hence I said can't afford to miss any...

lol sorry didn't read the first post carefully XD

Do you get relation bonuses for people in the entourage? How do you improve relations between characters?

I think the relations are permanent. I haven't seen them improve or deteriorate. And I think they both need to be in the active party for you to get the bonus. The entourage is just backup if you want to switch between PCs in battle (using the "Switch" function).

Thanks! Any tips to defeat Trevor & Sick? They're giving me a hard time With just two members in my party (Daniel & Ayara), half the time is spent healing each other from various status ailments & not many chances to attack. Which spells would be more effective? Or should I opt for only melee attacks? Without Col in my party, I can't even Scan them to see their HP...

Eh? I defeated them with a party of six. Did you forget to add other members into the team right before you went into Amen Corner?

Edit: Optional PCs (Part 2):
Naja
Water - Melee
Location: Mayfall Forest Mist Maze.
How to recruit: Defeat the boss of the Mist Maze. Available from Chapter 4 after Battle of Mayfall.

Richard
Thunder - Long-range
Location: Mayfall Forest
How to recruit: Complete the Mist Maze Side-Quest. Available from Chapter 4 after Battle of Mayfall.

Myst
Dark - Melee
Special Ability: Focus
Location: Myst’s House
How to recruit: Raise the dead (See Derek). Available from Chapter 4 after liberation of Shiro.

Derek
Dark - Melee
Special Ability: Row Strike
Location: Myst’s House
How to recruit: Get an herb, a Memento, a Charged Jet (it’s in the chest at Myst’s House), a Leather Belt, Brown Clay (stolen from the Hermits of the Highlands), Sea Spider Toxin (purchased from the poison dealer at Mayfall). Read the book in front of the bones. Available from Chapter 4 after liberation of Shiro.

Fitch
Fire - Long-range
Location: Elysium
How to recruit: Find Fitch hiding in the Elysium barracks. Speak to him and he will join. Available from Chapter 5.

Griever
Element: Lightning
Attack: Melee
Special Ability: Column Strike
Location: Blackwater Pier
To Recruit: Speak to her with Klaus in the party. Available from Chapter 5.

Deke
Element: Dark
Attack: Long-range
Special Ability: Focus
Location: Amen Corner
To Recruit: You must have recruited Joe. Speak to Deke at his front door, then defeat his golem. Return to Elysium and speak to him to officially recruit him. Available from Chapter 5.

Johnny
Element: Ice
Attack: Long-range
Location: Ansee
To Recruit: Play blackjack against him. Win 5000 Arn to recruit. Available from Chapter 5.

Venkal
Element: Fire
Attack: Melee
Location: Faraday
To Recruit: Speak to him at his house. Find the art appraiser at the University. Speak to him again. Speak to Richard Walters. Available from Chapter 5.

Alex
Element: Water
Attack: Melee
Location: Oischin Forest Druid Circle
To Recruit: Solve the death of Elder Lotharis. Available from Chapter 5 after the Elemental Mansion quest.

- END Part 2 -

PART 1
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5

Some interesting trivia about Exit Fate-
http://invisionfree.com/forums/Totakeke/index.php?showtopic=311

It's an early draft of Exit Fate from 2003! There isn't actually a game there, but there's some story and gameplay information. The main character was then named Divine instead of Daniel. Also SCF was apparently making it for RPG Maker 2000. Pretty interesting, isn't it?

lol no wonder the sprites look more RM2k3 than RMXP.

Yet more OPCs:
Alex
Element: Water
Attack: Melee
Location: Oischin Forest Druid Circle
To Recruit: Solve the death of Elder Lotharis. Available from Chapter 5 after the Elemental Mansion quest.

Shadfork
Element: Light
Attack: Melee
Special Ability: Wild Attack
Location: Cento Temple
To Recruit: Lose the sprint race. Available from Chapter 5 after the Elemental Mansion quest.

Hawk
Element: Thunder
Attack: Melee
Location: Sibet
To Recruit: Must have recruited Bartolli. Speak to Bartolli, then speak to Hawk. Available from Chapter 5 after Elemental Mansion quest.

OMG Aisling! You're racing away! Plz give others a chance too to post info about the optional characters or I'm sure you'd end up finding all 75 before we'd manage even 20 lol...

lol ok. It's too bad I'm not as good in winning A ranks for war games XD

I just ran into Trevor and Sick and they made me laugh. Simply hilarious!!!

I almost died of laughter after recruiting Klaus or should I say Claws! It took me completely by surprise! Trevor and Sick were pretty funny too!!

sounds fun. havent played too many games these days.but ill try this one

I accepted this side quest to meet a certain Deke in Amen Corner. Turned out to be that crazy guy with the robot!! Any tips to defeat the robot, its almost immune to melee attacks!

Use magical attacks, esp the element opposite the robot's. I *think* the robot is not immune to melee, but your characters may have a low weapon attack value, so it doesn't damage the robot much.

I'm stuck in Oischin forest...just can't defeat the Frostmonger. Any suggestions? Which members members should I take in the active party? Melee or magic? Thanks in advance!

My usual party is Daniel, Ayara, Outsider, Griever, Rorschach, Col. Before Griever and Rorschach were recruited I put Ljusalf and Joe. I think it's more important to upgrade the weapons (esp for your frontliners), and whatever you do don't put fire-elements in front, because while they do more damage to Frostmonger, they also receive more damage.

Does anyone know which ingredients are required for Myst's experiment & where you could find them?
The clues are-

Something to recover the wounded body,
to heal the mortal wounds so deep (maybe brown herb)

Something to recover the forgotten memories,
and bring them back from eternal sleep (memento)

A magical stone with darken glow,
to reach into the night

A lenght of skin to bind the flesh,
and bring it into the light (leather belt)

A piece of life from the mountains,
from which the first man was made

A drop of death from the sea,
from the abyssal depths of shade